Ms. Horror Blogosphere: Entry #17

Blogger: Ms. Harker
Blog: Musings Across a Continuum

Who is Ms Harker? By day a professional bleeding heart, by night (and lets face it, that's the only time that counts) a blooming blogger and horror enthusiast. How did this come to be? I have my Dad to thank for my macabre leanings. We used to sit up at night and watch Twin Peaks together. He indulged my love for all things Palmer, buying me Laura's diary and the soundtrack. We had running jokes about the owls not being what they seem! He convinced me one night--I think I was about fourteen--to stay up with him to watch the Exorcist. And although I barely slept for a week afterwards, I had caught the horror bug. From there, I devoured the Anne Rice books and sought out vampires and ghosts where I could find them. However, I do have a particular weakness for Asian horror, and of course those of the fanged persuasion, as long as they don't god damn sparkle in the sunlight!

What initially drew you to the horror genre?

It was a combination of David Lynch and Anne Rice. I was fascinated by Lynch's ability to highlight the obscurity of daily life but also explore the darkness and sensuality of the 'other' and of evil. Anne Rice's novels introduced me to the more gothic, supernatural side of horror. Although not as hardcore as, say, your Stephen Kings and Clive Barkers of the literary genre, the lure of the supernatural and the dynamics of Rice's characters and their covens are responsible for my being the fangbanger I am today!

Why is it that there seems to be more female horror fans than ever before? Are more women watching horror, or are more women admitting to watching horror?
Interesting question. I could get all hairy legged feminist on you (by the way, I wax regularly) and say that women are increasingly doing a lot of things that are not typically seen as 'female' roles due to breaking through a variety of glass ceilings, shredding our heads in the process and emerging in bloody glory, pieces of skull showing, shaking off the penile oppression we have suffered for years. But I won't. I have many female friends who have enjoyed horror from an early age and still do. Perhaps it's a generational thing. Maybe its the phenomenon of blogging that has allowed women to have a voice on what has typically been a male domain. You have to admit that production companies are onto it--things like Twilight (disgustingly), The Vampire Diaries and True Blood are not pitched at the fellas!

Who is your biggest inspiration?
If we are talking graphic novels, it would have to be fellow Aussie Ben Templesmith. If we are talking writing, I still have a huge respect for Anne Rice despite her going into the light, shall we say. However, the obvious legend of all things fanged is Bram Stoker's Dracula, of which I have one normal copy and one illustrated by the aforementioned Ben Templesmith! With films, it's a tie between David Lynch and Tim Burton. All have created images and worlds of darkness, of the obscure or the supernatural; all in ways that have influenced what I read, watch and even how I write.

How would you best describe your blog?

My blog looks at whatever tickles my fancy or has me reaching for my smelling salts in the horror genre. It has at times a little bit of sass, a little bit of raunch, and sometimes it bites. Its a horror blog with a little bit of slap and tickle!

Is image more important for female horror bloggers than male? If so, why?

I think it is. However, if you don't have the content, the horror knowledge and a well rounded argument to back up that ample bosom (placed in a tightly strung corset), then no matter how good your rack is, I don't think the horror community will pay attention for long. Sex and horror have always been intertwined, so I don't feel any need to justify the use of feminine wiles or sensuality, and would welcome those bloggers of the male gender to do the same, as long as it's done tastefully and with class. Maybe trim the beard though... a little man-scaping never hurt anyone did it?

If you could have the baby of one figure in the world of horror, real or fictional, who would it be?

See, now this is a conundrum. I think there are two figures I would be caught between, or would like to be caught between--Johnny Depp and Eric Northman.

Even writing that, I need to take a minute!

However, I don't really want a half-ling baby, so it would have to be Johnny Depp. Handsome, suave and a bit of a kook, what's not to like?

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